Universal Effect
by Psyman21
Summary: Miranda was given the goal to revive Shepard through Project Lazarus, but that wasn't all. Alongside that she was given another project. While Lazarus would revive a fallen hero this new project would create the ultimate weapon of war. A perfect soldier, a Universal Soldier.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys new story for ya! Now this story will only have some minor elements from the Universal Soldier films so don't go getting on my case if I get something wrong regarding them, cause god forbid we got enough nit-picky jackasses running around on this site trying to lecture people on how they should right their stories, especially if their a goddamn guest who are too lazy to make an account just so they can't get sent a customary F### your opinion PM.**

**Okay now that I've had my minor rant on with the story you came to read!**

_Unknown Location_

In a darkened room sat a single figure on a lone chair facing a large window that took up one whole end of the 'room' they were in. Said window displayed a bright molten star surrounded by a few dead planets with an occasional flare brightening the darkness of space every few moments.

The figure in the chair didn't care about any of this however, they were far more concerned with the various screens and charts floating in front of them. This figure was a man looking to be in his late thirties to mid forties and was wearing an expensive looking, but worn suit. His sandy colored hair was short and windswept which contrasted with his slightly pale skin tone, which was mostly due to him hardly ever leaving this one room unless necessary. His most outstanding feature however were his eyes, those twin glowing blue orbs were obviously cybernetic but no less expressive as they showed a direct window to the mans very soul, a soul that spoke of cold determination and inteligence. The owner of these eyes was Jack Harper, better known as the Illusive Man, the leader of the rogue human supremacist organization known as Cerberus. This man was considered one of, if not the, most dangerous man in the galaxy.

Currently, TIM**(The Illusive Man)** was going over some reports he had just gotten through his contacts on the Citadel in regard's to the recent destruction of the Normandy and the loss of Humanities golden child Jane Shepard. As he did this the door hidden in the darkness behind him opened allowing a single figure holding a small data pad to enter his hidden sanctum. Said figure appeared to be of the fairer sex as outlined by their curvaceous figure, until they stepped in the minimal light produced by the star outside to reveal themselves.

The figure was most definitely a woman and a very beautiful one at that, her skin was a flawless alabaster with her hourglass figure clad in a black and white catsuit that clung to her like a second skin, her midnight black hair fell down her back in gentle waves as her dark blue eyes spoke of immense intelligence and confidence. This women was Miranda Lawson, TIM's right hand man and the women in charge of his latest endeavour.

Taking a drag from the lit cigarette held in his hand, TIM waved away the screens before addressing his subordinate, "I assume that the effort's to recover Shepard's body have succeeded?"

"Correct, Shepard's remains are being transported to the facility to begin project Lazarus as we speak. After we're done here I will be going to supervise the project myself." stated Miranda neutrally as she stopped just in front of her boss.

TIM seemed to pause for a moment, as if debating something before pulling up a glass of liquor that had been in the cupholder of his chair. Taking a sip if the alcoholic beverage the man replaced his drink before bringing up another small screen containing a file simply titled _'UNV SLDR'._

"Before you do that I want you to finish another old project of ours as well. This one has been in the wing's long enough and could prove invaluable against the Reapers and for Shepard in the future." said TIM as he sent the file to Miranda's data pad.

Opening the new file, her eyes widened in shock, a very rare expression for her, as she read over the file. She had of course heard about this project and it having to be shelved at the time due to other more important matters being put forward. Still this project on top of project Lazarus was going to be a tall order.

"I've already taken the liberties of moving all current resources from this project to the facility, and I want scheduled updates on both." spoke TIM with a tone of finality.

Miranda wanted to say something but at the last moment thought better of it and instead just decided to head out and begin her work on the project's she was just assigned. It would be a tall order for sure, but she was always up for a challenge, she was made to be perfect after all. Though with the new project tossed in on top of Lazarus, she may find herself coming far in second place when it comes to being perfect.

* * *

_Six month's later, Cerberus Facility_

Six months after her assignment to this facility Miranda was once more in her office going over the most recent report's regarding the two projects under her authority. So far everything was going to plan with the renewal of Shepard's body, though a lot of parts had to be replaced with cybernetic's due to the damage her body suffered. Still, progress was being made and if it continued they would be ahead of schedule. The second one however was what gave her some trouble, not that the result's were poor, oh no in fact they were better then she could have dreamed of! The problem lay in the fact that she was having to replace various personnel and mechs far too often for her liking due to this.

Just then one of her aid's rushed in with a panicked look on his face and she could already feel the headache coming on, despite the fact she wasn't supposed to be able to get them.

"Subject Wrath is loose!" he yelled in panic, and would have said more if a sharp glare from his superior hadn't of shut him up.

"And how did this happen? From what I understand, subject Wrath was supposed to be in his quarter's as he had just finished testing just a few hours ago?" Miranda asked with a degree of calm that didn't display her utter annoyance at the current situation.

At the demand for an explanation the aid seemed to wither and fidget like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "well, A few of the security guys wanted to test subject Wrath and may have... paid to have him moved to the training area?" He finished with a subdued tone.

Miranda's face betrayed no emotion despite the fury boiling underneath her skin. This was the major cause of her issues right here, the project itself wasn't the problem, rather it was the security forces and their constant want to 'test' the subject, usually with live combat which ended terribly for them. So with a heavy sigh she stood from her desk, the mere action making the aid flinch in fear as he had seen what she had done to people with her biotics that had stepped too far out of line and did not want to be one of them.

Still he forced himself to follow her as she stepped out of her office and towards the training room that was personally designed for Subject Wrath. Every Cerberus operative they passed quickly made way for the supreme authority on the station as she strutted towards her destination with her aid following at a respectable distance.

It didn't take long for her to arrive, in fact she heard the commotion before she even saw the door. Some of the Cerberus operatives were standing by the doors nervously, debating on whether it would be worth it to open them and see what exactly what was happening inside. Miranda had no such hesitation as she opened the door, before quickly stepping to the side to avoid the flying form of one of the LOKI mech's they had for security as it crashed into the opposite wall with enough force to dent it. Taking a moment to look at the utterly destroyed mech, the Cerberus SIC promptly walked into the room but this time was not followed by the terrified aid.

The room inside looked like a warzone as the bodies of fallen mechs and security personnel littered the room. The room itself was a plane sterile white with not many features save for a few dips and rises in the landscape along with a few placed blocks to serve as makeshift barricades. Despite its simple design this was actually one of the most advanced rooms in the facility as it had a working environmental system alongside a holographic simulator giving it the ability to mimic any environment in the galaxy, even zero gravity.

Currently this highly advanced training room was littered with bodies and scorch marks caused by numerous mass effect rounds of great variety, and in the center of it all was the cause of all this carnage holding a Cerberus security member by the throat a foot off the ground as the said guard struggled to break free but with no success.

The figure was a giant of a man standing six foot eight and packed with muscle, currently the man possessed no attire save for a pair of ragged black pants that were filled with rips and tears, making them more akin to shorts. His skin was slightly tanned but at the moment was covered in blood that was both his own and not despite not a single wound being visible on him, the only marking on his skin in fact was a brand on his left pectoral, right over his heart, that plainly said _'01_ WRATH'. Other than that his hair was a dark brown and very messy as it fell down to the back of his neck, his face was rugged and showed a bit of stubble on his chin giving him a roguish look, but his blood red eye's, that currently were glaring at the man in his grasp, really stood out.

Stepping around the mangled form of a YMIR mech Miranda watched on to see what would happen next as while this was not planned it never hurt to see her efforts bear fruit. The moment was nearly ruined when a dark skinned, well built man with a shaven head and in standard Cerberus combat attire rush in. The man took a moment to take in the current state of the room before his eyes landed on the sight of one of his men dangling in the grip of one of the subjects he was put here to protect and/or guard.

Before he could rush forward to stop the behemoth of a man he caught the glare of Miranda and the orders in her eyes were clear, _'don't interrupt.'_

So despite everything in his being wanting to rush in and stop the death of one of his subordinates he was given an order by his superior and he would follow it, no matter how much he hated it.

With that done Miranda turned back towards the subject and waited for the expected conclusion as her newly arrived subordinate moved to stand beside her.

The subject meanwhile had hardly acknowledged them but he knew they were there, but his current focus was on the man currently in his grip. Just an hour ago his 'handlers' had moved him to his training room that had housed a couple dozen security personnel and double that of LOKI mechs with three YMIR mechs as well, all armed and ready to kill him.

Like all the times before they had heard the rumors of the 'monster' and 'demon' that Cerberus had created to be the ultimate weapon, the ultimate soldier as it were. Of course the bastards were cocky and skeptical of these rumors and of course wanted to test him themselves. This had happened plenty of times before and so the subject had just done what had come naturally, and slaughtered them all until the man currently in his grasp was all that remained.

"Y-you freak!" cried the man as he desperately clawed at the arm that currently held him in its grip.

If the man acknowledged the insult he didn't show it and continued to just stare at the captive as if he was some kind of animal he just caught and merely seeing what it would do next. Staring into those blood red orbs the man acting out of a desperate need for survival summoned an omni-blade from his omni-tool and with a cry of rage thrusted it into the chest of his captor who didn't even react to the attack on his person. Even with the blade going into the center of his chest, and the blood flowing out of him in copious amounts, the man showed no reaction whatsoever and just continued to stare into the now terrefied mans eyes as if searching for something.

"Eeeeeeeuuuaaaaaaagggggghhhhh!" roared the captive man as he pulled out his blade and proceeded to repeatedly stab it into the mans chest. Yet if anyone would be paying attention, the moment the blade would leave the wound it caused would already begin to close, and through it all the giant of a man kept his same gaze and stance as if nothing was happening at all.

After about a minute of the mans constant stabbings in an attempt to kill the monster that held him in a desperate attempt for freedom his captor had finally had enough. With a quick clench of his fingers and a sharp twist he snapped the security operatives neck as if it was a twig. With the man now dead the subject let go of the corpse and let it fall to the ground just as the last of his injuries healed, leaving no indication he had been injured at all save for the blood the covered his body.

With the spectacle now over Miranda decided to step forward and take command of the situation.

"Wrath, stand down." commanded Miranda.

Upon that order the man now known as Wrath turned to look at her with his once red eyes changing until they then became a very dark brown, bordering on black. His form relaxed as he just stood there and stared at her for a moment before speaking, his deep monotone voice sending an echo through the room.

"About time you came Lawson, I'm getting really tired of dealing with your troops and their toys."

"Well maybe if you didn't keep killing and antagonizing them then this wouldn't happen." threw in the head of security which earned him a small glare from Miranda but Wrath just gave him a raised brow.

"They attacked me with the intent to kill Taylor, I merely gave them the same courtesy. Maybe if you kept a better handle on your subordinates then this wouldn't happen." was the cold reply.

Before Jacob could express his thoughts on Wrath's opinion Miranda took back control, "enough Jacob. Now before anything else please go and grab the scientist responsible for Wrath's care and bring them here."

Casting one last glare at Wrath, Jacob quickly made his exit, as soon as he left Miranda let out a small sigh as moved forward and began to do her own examination of Wrath with her Omni-tool. While she did this she decided to talk to Wrath, kind of ironic that the source of one of her biggest problems was the one she actually could tolerate more then anyone else on this station.

"You've gotten more outspoken in this short time Wrath, has your sessions with Kelly been helpful?" asked Miranda.

When Miranda took up this project TIM had suggested that Wrath actually gain a bit of humanity and had appointed Yeoman Kelly for the job as her kind and caring nature accompanied by her knowledge of psychology made her perfect for the job. While skeptical at first Miranda had quickly seen the benefits, even if they were minor. After all, having an emotional stake in a mission is a lot more beneficial in the long run compared to some emotionless killing machine that has no drive other than to complete the mission.

"They have been, I believe I am starting to feel what she describes as 'regret'." he replied in that same monotone.

"Oh? And what exactly do you regret? Do you regret killing these men and women Wrath?" now asked a very curious Miranda as she wanted to hear his response.

"No. I merely regret the fact that they actually thought they could win against me with the meager forces that they possessed." was the answer she received and she couldn't help but let a small smirk play on her lips.

"That's not regret Wrath, in fact I think what you are feeling is more akin to pity than anything else. Still, you performed exceptionally well from what I see, and as expected you have no injuries to show for it. I dare say your regeneration puts even Krogan's to shame."

As she finished that stament a group of doctors and scientist rushed in with omni-tools already on as they swarmed over Wrath like a wave while his form was covered in orange light from the numerous scans being run on him. Seeing he was now being taken care of Miranda quickly bid the man farewell and left to go back to her office.

Once inside her domain the Cerberus SIC sat there for a moment before suddenly pulling up the file she received from TIM when she was given this assignment. Opening it up fully she saw the full title and not the abbreviated one that TIM had read, the full title now read _'Universal Soldier Project'._

She remembered this project from so long ago, when she first started working for Cerberus in fact. The project itself was first started a few years before the First Contact War and was designed to create the perfect soldiers. There had been two similiar projects beforehand codenamed White Tower and Black Tower respectively, but both with varying results and incidents that ultimately lead to them being shut down.

The project Wrath was apart of however was different as, much like herself, these ones were tank bred with their genes manipulated at such a level that they could hardly be considered human anymore. But, with the First Contact war and induction of humanity into the Council races, all evidence of the project and most of it's subjects were scrapped as the science behind them tossed every law of gene treatment that the Council had out the window. Not a good first impression to make for humanity if it was discovered.

It was honestly no surprise that Cerberus eventually got their hands on the most promising subject and all notes and research regarding this project. In fact if not for things regarding Saren, Wrath would have been finished quite awhile ago instead of having to be done alongside the project to bring back Shepard from the dead. Even with the late start however, Wrath was performing above and beyond all expectations. When the time came for Shepard to come back into the fold she would need the best of the best, and Wrath would be that for her. While Shepard would be the hero the galaxy needed to fight the war against the Reapers, Wrath would be the weapon she wielded against them for he was the ultimate weapon, he was a Universal Soldier.

**Send your reviews and/or Pm's on what you think of this and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Cerberus Facility, 9 month's ASD (After Shepard's Death)_

Walking down the hall's of the Cerberus facility Miranda and Jacob were in a heated debate as they made their way towards the section of the facility that contained Wrath's quarters. Various other personnel quickly made way for the two highest authorities on the station while continuing to perform their own assigned tasks.

"I'm telling you this is a bad idea Miranda. That thing could put a huge target on our backs if the Alliance catches wind of it. I don't care how well made it is, one slip up and everything goes down the shitter for us!" ranted Jacob to Miranda as her only reaction was a slight glare out of the corner of her eyes while not breaking her stride.

"These orders come straight from the Illusive Man Jacob, plus I agree with them. Wrath has nothing more he can learn from inside the walls of these facilities and needs to be live tested, and I have every faith in his ability to complete the mission and not leave any evidence for the Alliance to pick up and trace back to us." replied Miranda while putting special emphasis on he and his when addressing Wrath.

This was the main issue between Jacob and Miranda whenever Wrath was brought up. While Miranda did see Wrath as an invaluable asset to the future mission being led by Shepard, she also saw someone trying to gain a semblance of humanity and felt it better to address him as such. Plus they weren't really that different in regards to origins, just she was made to be her fathers perfect successor and he was made to be the perfect soldier.

Jacob on the other-hand, he only saw a test tube made freak that was only useful as long as it was able to fight. As far as the former Alliance member was concerned, Wrath wasn't human and more akin to a tool, a faulty tool but a tool all the same.

Grinding his teeth Jacob reluctantly didn't speak up again. Despite his misgiving's about the Universal Soldier he could not and would not go against the orders of the Illusive man, no matter how much he hated said orders.

The rest of the walk was spent in absolute silence and before long they reached the doors leading to Wrath's quarters where in front were stationed two Cerberus security operatives in full armor and gear. The sight of them made Miranda more amused than anything cause if Wrath wanted to leave his room she knew there would be nothing able to stop him. The only reason she allowed Jacob to station guards here was to give him a small sense of control and security over the super soldier.

As her and Jacob approached the two gave quick salutes before allowing the duo to enter Wrath's room. Said room was decently sized but very spartan as the only sign of personal items were the various number of training equipment and a weapons bench where their target was currently putting back together a Mattock assault rifle after having taken it apart a few seconds prior. He already knew he had visitor's but still continued to complete his task as Miranda opened up to discuss why she and Jacob were there.

"Wrath, how have you been since we last spoke?" asked Miranda casually. Kelly had informed her that continued human interaction would do wonders in helping Wrath's progress.

Turns out that Wrath had no problem actually feeling emotions, rather the problem was that he didn't know what they were or how to react to them. Most of Kelly's session's with the soldier were him telling her what he physically was feeling during certain times and then she would try and help him figure out what particular emotion he may have been feeling at the time and the typical responses to them. While Wrath has made much progress in comparison to how he was at the beginning of the session's he was still a far cry from what most considered 'normal'.

"I've been fine Miranda, may I ask why you and Taylor have come to see me?" replied Wrath in his signature monotone as he placed the completely reassembled rifle on the work bench and turned to face the duo.

"The Illusive Man wants to put your skill's to the test so he has a mission for you." threw out Jacob as now Wrath was giving them his undivided attention as Miranda took over.

"The mission is simple, we have intercepted a transmission from the Alliance that a group of slavers have been highly active ever since human colonies started disappearing though it has been verified they are not the cause of them. Cerberus has traced their origins to small abandoned asteroid mining facility on the edge of the Terminus system. Your mission is to enter the facility and eliminate the slavers, no survivors, and then set up a beacon for the Alliance to come and clean up the mess. Leave no evidence you were there." explained Miranda as Wrath absorbed her words and the mission details.

"What are the estimated personnel and equipment they may have?" asked Wrath.

"We have estimated somewhere between forty to fifty slavers in the base with standard pirate armaments save for a few shuttles and a decommissioned Turian Cruiser as their transport." was the immediate answer.

Wrath took a moment to absorb all of the mission details before looking Miranda in the eyes and asking with what could be considered the ghost of a smile for him, "when do I leave?"

* * *

_Terminus system, Slaver Base_

In the depths of a small asteroid field on the edge of Terminus space a small Kodiak shuttle colored white and bearing the mark of Cerberus flew nimbly between the floating debris while making it's way to one of the larger formations. Upon this formation if one were to look closely a structure could be seen upon said asteroid, and this was the target of the Cerberus aligned craft.

Inside said shuttle the pilot, upon seeing the target of this flight quickly turned on the intercom in order to inform his passenger, "the base is just up ahead, ETA in three mic's."

There was a small pause before a mechanical voice spoke up from the back, "understood."

While only one word that single word sent a shiver down the pilot's spine. He knew exactly who and what was just sitting in the back and was more than thankful that he was on his side. Next to him he heard the giggles of his copilot and gave her a sharp glare.

"May I ask what's so damn funny Shiela?" asked the man to the now named Shiela who gave him an amused look despite the fact that due to their Cerberus gear covering everything on them, he couldn't see it but he damn well knew it was there.

"Oh nothing Ozzy... just the fact you look ready to piss yourself despite the fact that was the only thing he's said on this entire trip."

"Hey that guy is a straight up monster okay. A guy who can tear a YMIR mech apart with his bear hands isn't someone I want to fuck with so excuse me if I'm a little jumpy." argued the pilot now named Ozzy.

"Oh quite being such a pussy." was the immediate reply to his concerns, though before he could retort they realized they had reached their destination.

Pulling up just out of sight of the main entrance to the slaver base the doors to the shuttle opened to release their passenger. His first step outside the shuttle kicked up a lot of dust due to the force used as Wrath stepped from the transport revealing his intimidating frame for the first time outside the confines of the Cerberus facility he had been training in for the past few months.

His intimidating height was revealed to all only now donned in blood red armor that covered everything save for the joint area's where a dark grey bodysuit mesh could be seen. The armor itself was fairly smooth with sharp ridges along his knuckles, knees, feet and elbows, with a helmet resembling that of a medieval knights save for the black tinted visor that hid his red orbs from the rest of the world. This was the Hades X armor, specifically designed for Wrath as its armor and shielding were far stronger than those usually found on infantry and were actually more suited to be found on certain military vehicles. This however lead to the armor being too heavy for standard troops and was why only Wrath was able to wear the armor with no consequences.

If the armor wasn't intimidating enough then the fact he was loaded with weaponry would definitely seal the deal. One his back lay three weapons in standby mode while across his lower back rested a shotgun and finally on his hip rested a rather large pistol. Each of these weapons looked larger that they reasonably should be but that was neither here nor there as it didn't seem to hinder the hulking super soldier in the least. These weapons were merely tools for him to complete his mission and that was it.

As soon as Wrath had exited the shuttle the doors closed and the craft began to take off but not before Shiela gave him a cheery 'good luck'. They were ordered to drop him off and wait on standby in the field to pick him up once his mission was done, which shouldn't be long. They had timed his arrival so that he would have plenty of time to elimnate the bases personnel and signal the Alliance before their Cruiser returned. This ensured that the Alliance would show up just in time to ambush the slavers and hopefully dispose of them for good. If not, then Wrath was sure to be going hunting for the rest of them.

Wrath wasted no time as he began making his way towards the slaver base making sure to keep out of sight from as he quickly drew closer until he was almost right in front of the entrance. Taking a look at the control panel Wrath was pretty disappointed as the security on the console was pretty subpar and was no challenge for him to hack through. The sudden opening of the doors surprised a lone slaver who just so happened to be on the otherside. Wrath noted that the slaver was Batarian but other than that gave no second thought as he lashed out and wrapped his hand around the slavers neck, and with a sharp tug the sound of the slavers neck breaking was heard and the body went limp. Dropping the corpse with nary a care Wrath quickly entered the base and locked the door behind him to ensure that none of the slavers would be able to escape once he began his rampage.

Scanning the hallway to make sure there were no more slavers currently nearby, Wrath reached up and drew one of the weapons from his back that quickly unfolded into a large rifle similar in design to the Revenant machine gun, only slimmer with a longer barrel and an added scope.

This was another Cerberus prototype like his armor, the Hellfire assault rifle was an ingenious weapon as it had all the stopping power and ammo capacity of a large caliber machine gun but with the accuracy of a Mattock. It was effective at all ranges, but more so at mid to close range, and had the option to switch between semi and auto firing along with the fact it possessed the original self restoring heat sinks instead of the 'modern' interchangeable ones. It's best feature however is what gave it its name as over continued fire the heat built up can actually be condensed and fired in a single round that is so hot it can penetrate nearly any armor in its path. While this may instantly overheat the weapon it was a handy feature in certain situations.

With his chosen weapon brandished and ready to be used Wrath stalked the halls with stealth that was surprising for someone of his stature. Despite having covered some decent ground however, Wrath had not come across another slaver and that made him suspicious on where they all were. His search was brought to a halt when he heard acommotion coming from one of the connecting halls.

Stalking towards the entrance, Wrath pressed himself near the door and allowed his helmet's enhanced audio filters to listen in on what was going on inside.

"Damn bitch bit me!" roared a male voice as the sound of an armored hand connecting with flesh was heard and said recipient hitting the floor hard with a feminine sounding grunt.

"That's what you get for trying to take one of the more spirited ones. That one may be just a farmer but she's got spirit." laughed another male voice.

"Oh shut up Kan! Soon enough this bitch will be screaming my name just like the last five!" snarled the angered male to the now named Kan.

"Whatever you say Pomo, just hurry up before Cretor catches us, he doesn't like the goods being spoiled before sale." drawled Kan to the now identified Pomo.

As this happened Wrath had disregarded the two grunts names and focused more on this 'Cretor' who seemed to be the one in charge of this group and therefore was Wrath's prime target. As he filed the name away the universal soldier readied his weapon to breach the room and kill the two slavers that resided inside.

While he was hesitant about the apparent captured colonist, as while killing her wasn't part of his mission he was ordered not to leave any trace of himself for the Alliance to find to trace back to Cerberus. Oh well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

The whole world seemed to slow for Wrath as the doors slid open and he stepped in with his weapon already aiming for the two thoroughly surprised Batarian slavers. They had no time to react as the soldier sent a volley of fire down range. The subpar pirate shielding didn't last a second under the concentrated firepower and the duo were quickly gunned down in a spray of blood soon followed by the surprised screams of the various captives that also occupied the area.

With the immediate threat dealt with Wrath scanned the area with his weapon one more time just to be assured there were no more hostiles. Once satisfied Wrath then took a more thorough look at his surroundings and for the first time realized just how many people were trapped here. While there were only around two dozen cells, each one was packed to capacity with civilians of various races ranging from Asari to a handful of Quarians.

Laying on the ground in front of one of the cells and looking up at him in both fear and awe was a human female that Wrath guessed was in her mid teens, with short dark brown hair and eyes with a dark blue jumpsuit. She looked dirty, as if she hadn't been allowed to clean herself for at least a week and the small bit of blood on her lip and the bruise forming on her cheek identified her as the target of one of the previous slavers attack. After his initial analysis Wrath continued to scan the area trying to figure out his next move. Logic and mission parameters demanded that he kill the prisoners in order to maintain his anonymity but a part of him didn't feel right with that course. He felt as if a lump was forming in his chest and the stiffening of his limbs, as if his body was denying this course of action and staging a mutiny.

_'What is this? Is this what Kelly said Guilt feels like, or is it more akin to reluctance?' _Wondered Wrath to himself mentally before he was pulled from his thoughts by the girl from before speaking to him.

"A-are you here to h-help us? Did the Alliance s-send you?" asked the girl with a spark of hope in her tone that made Wrath freeze.

Is that what he was here for, to help? His mission was to eliminate the pirates yes but wasn't that a form of helping others who would be their victims? Wasn't he to one day help Shepard in her future battles? For once in his admittedly short life, Wrath was questioning the true nature of his purpose. Yes he was meant to be a tool and an asset to the future of humanities survival, but did that not mean that he was helping others as well? Would killing these people really help anyone, or would it just be cold-blooded murder?

As these thoughts flooded his mind Wrath looked once more into the girls hopeful gaze and felt a warm feeling spread through his chest and fill his entire being. If he was honest he liked the way it felt, to be looked at in such a way. Her look held none of the resentment, fear or hunger that he had been subjected to constantly back on the Cerberus station, just pure unfettered hope and awe. In that moment Wrath wanted nothing more than to make sure that look never left her face, that merely seeing that look made him feel as if a missing piece of himself was finally in place.

So for once he made the conscious choice to be a bit more liberal with his orders.

"Yes, I am here to eliminate the slavers, however I am not Alliance." stated Wrath in his standard monotone that while visibly unnerving to most seemed to comfort everyone there.

"So can you get us out of here or what?" called out on of the captives but quieted down when Wrath turned his way with his response ready, "not yet, the base is still full of slavers and it would not be safe for any of you to leave this room until I have dealt with them."

The captives seemed to accept his logic as he then moved to go and continue his mission, but stopped when the girl from before was suddenly up and in front of him and didn't seem afraid even though he towered over her by a good margin.

"What's your name?" she asked as she stared into his visor, almost as if she could see his eyes through it.

After a moments hesitation the Universal Soldier finally answered, "Wrath," and then he was suddenly gone with the door closing behind him and if one were to see his face they would see the barest upward quirk of his lips in what could almost pass as a smile.

* * *

_30 minutes later_

It had been approximately an hour since Wrath had arrived at the slaver base, nearly half of that time was spent just stalking the halls until he had found the holding cells for he slavers 'spoils'. Now half an hour later and the situation had changed drastically from when he had first arrived.

After leaving the captives quarters Wrath had made a beeline for the mess hall where he found a good chunk of the slavers eating. They were caught completely by surprise by Wrath's assault and were promptly gunned down before they could even think of drawing their weapons. In the midst of the slaughter however, one of them managed to seound the base alarm before his head exploded thanks to a well aimed round from Wrath.

The base exploded in color as the alarms blared throughout the station and the remaining slavers made haste to try and eliminate the intruder with no success. Every hallway Wrath travelled down had some new makeshift barricade to try and stop him yet the all failed. As his targets continued to fall to him their growing fear unknowingly lead them to lead Wrath straight towards the command center, which also happened to be the most fortified area of this base.

By the time he reached the command center the remaining slavers had locked the doors and were no doubt trying to call for reinforcements from their Cruiser, too bad for them that the shuttle Wrath arrived in was also hanging around so as to jam any outgoing signal's until Wrath had completed his mission.

Standing in front of the large door Wrath immediately came to the conclusion that his rifle wasn't up to the task of breaking down this particular door and decided to take a more hands on approach. Stowing away his weapon Wrath placed his fingers into the gap that separated the doors and with a small grunt of effort began to pry the doors open with sheer brute strength. He could hear the cries of alarm from inside and the sound of weapons being prepped but ignored it as he continued to pry the door apart until with a final surge of effort and a metallic groan of protest the door was forced open to reveal the scared and shocked faces of the slavers inside with weapons ready.

One slaver stood out however due to his armor being a dark red color and slightly bulkier than the others. He was a Batarian like most of the slavers and was at the back of the pack with a rocket launcher aimed straight at Wrath. This must be the leader the two in holding cells spoke about named Cretor.

"Fire!" cried Cretor as he and his remaining troops opened fire on the soldier.

Once again time seemed to slow down for Wrath as adrenaline surged through his veins and he became a blur of motion as he drew the shotgun from his lower back.

The shotgun itself had the appearance of a Claymore shotgun but looked far newer with a sleeker design as compared to the rather blocky design of the usual models. This was the affectionately named Thunder cannon. It had more power than the typical Claymore shotgun and that also was the reason for the loud sound it made that resembled that of a thunder crack with which it earned its name.

That first shot and the sound that came from it shook the slavers to the core, but not as much as when the after effect hit them or rather what hit Cretor as his entire top half from the waist up was suddenly turned into a bunch of meaty chunks. As fear stalled their actions they became easy pickings for Wrath as he then methodically gunned down each and every slaver in sight and turning them all into just piles of bloody meat.

In next to no time at all every single slaver was finally dead and Wrath's mission as complete. With a final look over the veritable slaughter, Wrath recalled his shotgun and walked over to the nearest console.

Wiping away a bit of blood Wrath quickly sent out a distress signal targeting Alliance channels as well as a recall signal for the slaver Cruiser, after making sure the shuttle stopped jamming the comms of course. As Wrath made ready to depart he caught a glimpse of the controls to unlock the holding cells and with only a moment's hesitation released the captives before making his departure. A few minutes later found Wrath in the shuttle on the way back to the Cerberus facility.

"So big guy, how was your little trip?" Shiela asked with her curiosity peaked.

Wrath was silent for a few moments and just as the pilot thought he wasn't going to answer he spoke which surprised the two pilot's, "enlightening."

Despite the rather weird answer given the two pilots gave no comment as they continued their flight towards the facility.

* * *

_1 day later_

It had been a day since Wrath's first official mission and Miranda was now looking over the reports filed by all involved from the pilot's and Wrath himself, to the Alliance reports they had obtained from the freed captives.

Miranda couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised at Wrath's actions in sparing them, as his orders would have justified the need to kill them to keep his secrecy. Yet, he had gone against them and instead spared the would be slaves with one report saying that he actually talked to them, even though the communication was lackluster one thing stood out. The fact he gave his name to a teenage girl who had simply asked him what his name was.

Now while most would have found Wrath's actions a clear sign of insubordination, the ranking CO and unofficial second in command of Cerberus couldn't help but smile to herself the more she read.

"Well Wrath looks like your progressing faster then expected, hopefully soon we'll even get you to make a small smile." Miranda said with a smile as she put away the reports and instead picked up on the ones concerning project Lazarus, "now I just need to focus on making sure Shepard is ready as well. Humanity needs her now more than ever."

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